Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Hello!
I have been really busy in the past 3 weeks with beeing on vacation, and am therefore a few days late in my celebration of 100 followers of The Handstitched Files. Bad blogger. I have also been quite busy with this and battling off weeds.

(We bought a summerhouse, my boyfriend and I. Despite it being barely 40 square meters, I find it quite overwhelming. Funny how something that should be quite simple and actually quite exciting can turn into something hard to manage for reasons not really related to the thing itself. Buying a summerhouse turned a few things upside down for me, but it's settling down, I hope. It's also been much more work than expected. The previous owner left everything in the house, down to dessert spoons and rusty pot hangers, wich is both a blessing and a curse. I have lost count of how many times we filled our car and drove to the landfill. At the same time, it is nice not having to buy a thing. It's been lots of work trying to clean the house while repairing a leaking roof, but I think I'm starting to get on top of things. And having grass between my toes while drinking my afternoon coffee is a quite amazing feeling!)

Anyways, it is never too late to celebrate!

I did not have to think really hard to decide what I would be offering. I want to celebrate the joyfullness, the creativity and the open-mindedness of this wonderful little community that we have. And what better than an indie pattern to do that? So I am offering a pattern from my favourite pattern company, Deer and Doe. (I am not affiliated to Deer and Doe, by the way, I just really love Eleonores designs!) My love of Deer and Doe is recorded here, and I have a Belladone and a Centaurée, both already worn several times, still to be blogged (bad, bad blogger). So up for grabs is the pattern of your choice from Deer and Doe's catalog. The giveaway will be opened until sunday the 17th of August, and I will draw a winner on the next day. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Why don't you tell me what you have been up to this summer?

Ok, back to sewing! I have LOTS of unphotographed/unblogged projects, but I have been really excited about lingerie lately, so I wanted to share my second bra. This is also Pin-Up Girls Classic bra, although I modified it quite a lot this time. I changed the fabric straps for elastic straps (and this alone would make a world of difference for the sexiness factor of the bra!). I also lowered the rise of the cups. They still provide good coverage, but feels much prettier. Finally, I changed, ever so slightly, the curve of the cup seams, flattening them a tiny bit, which made quite a difference in the final shape of the cups. I am much happier with the fit and feel of this bra, compared with the first. It is very comfortable, too, and way prettier! I have happily put it in my lingerie drawer and use it regularly. The fabric and findings are from a kit I purchased at Sewing chest. It's a great kit, with nice fabrics, and it includes everything for a bra, including lace, powermesh and stable tricot, as well as all the elastics and trimmings. It even has tiny ribbon bows! I find it hard still to judge the quality of lingerie fabrics, but these felt quite nice, and were nice to work with. I did not realise when I purchased the kit, but the materials are not enough for a matching panty, these are sold as a separate kit. Just something to keep in mind! I struggled once again with attaching the hooks and eyes tape, anyone has tips or suggestions? I also had some issues with bulkyness in a few places. Maddie recently suggested hammering down bulky areas, so maybe I'll try this next time.

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About me...

Architect by day, seamstress by night. I like to make things, it started a long time ago with paper and crayons. Now I use mostly fabric, sometimes yarn, and try and make myself my dream wardrobe.
Don't be shy, say hi by leaving a comment, or emailing me at joelle.stlaurent@hotmail.com